GAFFNEY - For Gaffney resident Irene Lipscomb, life came screeching to a halt last Thursday. That was the day she learned the first of her seven grandchildren - Dail Dinwiddie - had disappeared after a rock concert in Columbia. Authorities believe the 23-year-old graduate student was abducted from the Five Points area of downtown Columbia, and a nationwide search is under way to find her. "It's just been one nightmare," said Mrs. Lipscomb, seated in the living room of a friend's home in Gaffney. "She's just a wonderful girl. She's so quiet and sweet." Although Dinwiddie was born and raised in Columbia, her mother, Jean Dinwiddie, and grandmother are Gaffney natives. Mrs. Dinwiddie, a graduate of Gaffney High School, moved to Columbia in 1956 to attend the University of South Carolina and has lived there since. On Wednesday, she made an emotional appeal for her daughter's return during a news conference. Relatives said Dinwiddie attended private schools while growing up in Columbia. She then went on to Randolph-Macon Woman'scq College in Lynchburg, Va., where she graduated last year with an art history degree. After working a short time in Charlotte, she decided to move back to her parents' home in Columbia to look for another job. At the time of her disappearance, Dinwiddie was taking graduate classes at the University of South Carolina with plans to study architecture at Clemson University. Mrs. Lipscomb said dealing with her granddaughter's disappearance almost has been too much for family members. Only prayers and support from friends have sustained them. "We just hope something turns up. That's all we have to go on now," Mrs. Lipscomb said. Officials with the Columbia police department and the State Law Enforcement Division continued to run down leads in the case on Thursday but said there was nothing new to report. In the past week, authorities have checked out about 300 leads and interviewed more than 100 people, said Columbia Police Chief Charles Austin. This week, authorities officially designated the case as a kidnapping. As with other missing person cases, there have been unsubstantiated reports of bodies being found in various locations, SLED spokesman Hugh Munn said. "It's just been an awful lot of rumors about a body being found, but there's nothing to it. It's very typical of these kind of cases," Munn said. Tonight the family's attention will turn to the TV program "America's Most Wanted," which will appeal for help in locating Dinwiddie during a one-minute segment to be aired at 8 p.m. Mrs. Lipscomb, who was remarried about 11/2 years ago, said portions of her wedding video in which Dinwiddie appears may be used in the telecast. While watching the broadcast will be painful, Mrs. Lipscomb is holding out hope that it might help authorities discover her granddaughter's whereabouts. "Just bring my baby back," she said. Original Atex file name: DINWID.03

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